O5‐04‐05: Morphological differences in the striatum in early and late‐onset Alzheimer's disease
Year: 2012
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Imaging studies have shown that early onset (EO) and late-onset (LO) Alzheimer's Disease (AD) are associated with two distinct patterns of neuropathology. LOAD shows greater medial temporal lobe atrophy, and EOAD is associated with greater neocortical atrophy. Less is known about how the striatum is affected in EOAD and LOAD. We investigated volume and shape changes in the striatum (nucleus accumbens, putamen, and caudate) in 18 EOAD (age: 63+4; females: 72%; MMSE: 20+4), 18 LOAD (age: 77+5; females: 83%; MMSE: 21+4) patients matched to the EOAD group for disease severity, and in 36 age-matched controls (n = 18 young controls, YC; n = 18 elderly controls, EC). The striatal nuclei were outlined by expert manual tracing on MRI. 3D parametric surface models of each nucleus were extracted with an automated shape analysis approach. Differences in striatal shape and volume were tested and mapped between EOAD and YC, and LOAD and EC. In the nucleus accumbens, the LOAD group showed lower volumes (P <0.01, t-test). Local differences mapped to the caudal portion of the nucleus (P <0.05 corrected with permutation testing; Figure). In the putamen, both EOAD and LOAD showed a trend for reduced volumes (P <0.09, t-test), but local differences were significant in EOAD only (ventral putamen: P <0.05 corrected with permutation testing; Figure). No volume difference was detected in the caudate in EOAD and LOAD, but both groups showed local shape changes (P <0.005 corrected with permutation testing; Figure) including both enlargements (shown in violet) and reductions (shown in yellow-green).
Source: Alzheimer s & Dementia
Institution: Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4252892203